To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

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I found this a few hours ago.
It basically shows how school takes our "wings" away.
I wasn't expecting to see so many fellow anti-schoolers in the comments, but they ended up being the majority. <3

Then there were comments like this:

Quote:I go to high school and it really comes down to your attitude towards it. Even though stuff can be unnecessary we have to just deal with it.That's life, like I said, life is unfair. Just try to enjoy high school while you still can because once you're out of it, life only gets harder.﻿

It would be awesome if we could all just change our mindsets in order to "enjoy" anything that violates our rights. Then we could be tranquil, even under the most tyrannical dictatorship. Though, that would require restricting everything that can give life meaning: Individual goals, having likes and dislikes, freedom, exploration and fun. When big faults in society are exposed(slavery, discrimination, abuse, etc) people come together to fight against it, so why is school the one system where "just change your perspective" is a valid way to deal with it?(Changing for an unjust society instead of just fixing the society)

This reminds of what The Analogist replied in one of my old threads:

(02-06-2017 01:43 PM)the Analogist Wrote: "you've stumbled upon the most pervasive unwritten precept of psychology: 'society is just fine'

people who come to see psychological abberations as being created by various institutions in society tend to gravitate away from psychology since the locust of various problems are not found within individuals. they go towards political science or various counter culture groups offering solutions to societal problems. such people seem to remain outside of the purview of mainstream psychology.

thats why people who study education DONT hear much about John Holt or Dan Greemberg."

Changing one's attitude can be useful for short term sanity, but is not a realistic way of dealing with institutions that are inherently problematic.
Most of the more school-positive comments would make more sense if schools were non compulsory and it was not expected for us to do things exactly the way teachers dictate. Then, people interested in those subjects and who personally enjoy more structure could attend. I've heard of unschoolers who chose to go to school(I don't know how long they stayed though).

"I’M BEGGING YOU, PRINCE ZUKO! It’s time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big question: who are you and what do YOU want?"
" While it is always best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing"
-Uncle Iroh(Avatar: the Last Airbender)

Quote:I go to high school and it really comes down to your attitude towards it. Even though stuff can be unnecessary we have to just deal with it.That's life, like I said, life is unfair. Just try to enjoy high school while you still can because once you're out of it, life only gets harder.﻿

I like to point out to these people that "Life is unfair" does not justify unfair decisions. You don't always get what you want, therefore you don't get X. I believe that is called a non-sequitur.

Also, whoever said life was unfair? so unfair that we commit heresy by being fair?... this strange dogma sounds like sullen resentment, internalized, and turned into a religion.

"life only gets harder"
Uhh, my life is pretty fantastic right now, even when I worked at walmart the only problem was being able to afford car repairs... sounds like somebody who came to resent life if you ask me.

Purity is to Believe only that which deserves it.Wisdom is to follow only the Opinion which makes the best use of evidence.Excellence is to be mindful of all these things in Living.Follow me on Twitter!

my hatred of school is mostly retrospective. I had lots of cool hobbies, but not very much time to spend on them. arriving in adulthood with no marketable skills has left me hating how little time i had to work on my hobbies.

Purity is to Believe only that which deserves it.Wisdom is to follow only the Opinion which makes the best use of evidence.Excellence is to be mindful of all these things in Living.Follow me on Twitter!

I was kind of expecting it to be different in execution, but the meaning rings clear.
Now that I've graduated, I feel like my measly grade-point average is going to be my downfall I've been judged by the worst years of my life, the year when I realized my family's idea of helping me was tormenting me, the year when I could no longer stand my dreadful tutor, the year I was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. The years I cried more than doing anything else, the years I was pushed past the edge of my principles. I get no real Do-over.